Fallout 4
by jay1201
Summary: This is the story of Nate and his journey to find his lost son and exact a revenge for the death of his wife Nora,
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

* * *

War. War never changes.

In the year 1945, my great-great grandfather, serving in the army, wondered when he'd get to go home to his wife and the son he'd never seen. He got his wish when the US ended World War II by dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The World awaited Armageddon; instead, something miraculous happened. We began to use atomic energy not as a weapon, but as a nearly limitless source of power.

People enjoyed luxuries once thought the realm of science fiction. Domestic robots, fusion-powered cars, portable computers. But then, in the 21st century, people awoke from the American dream.

Years of consumption lead to shortages of every major resource. The entire world unravelled. Peace became a distant memory. It is now the year 2077. We stand on the brink of total war, and I am afraid. For myself, for my wife, for my infant son - because if my time in the army taught me one thing: it's that war, war never changes.


	2. Chapter 1 – War Never Changes

**Chapter 1 – War Never Changes**

* * *

"War never changes," Nate repeated to himself in the steam stained mirror.

"You're gonna knock em' dead at them veteran's hall tonight hon," Nate's wife Nora said over the running shower.

"You think?" Nate replied, a little of his nervousness showing in his voice. Nate had been invited by the mayor of Concord to give a speech on the Resources War and the importance of supporting the troops, both at home and overseas.

Running a hand through his unkempt hair he wondered to himself if he'd ever get used to having it so long, after 15 years in the Army he was used to having his hair cut to regulations, short and tidy. Nate's hair had just the beginnings of grey showing at his temples, whereas the remainder was a dark brown. He had, until a few minutes earlier, sported an untidy attempt at a beard, however he had shaved for the speech tonight. He had been lucky during his service and had only one visible scar, a 3cm gash which had healed unevenly across his right cheek. A shrapnel memento from his service in Alaska almost 2 years ago, Nora had asked him why, with modern medical technology, he hadn't had it removed. Nate had always replied it reminded him to keep his head down.

"Absolutely, now get ready and stop hogging the mirror," replied Nora playfully stepping out of the shower already wrapped in a towel.

Standing at only 5ft2, Nora stared at Nate intently with her piercing hazel eyes. Nora had shoulder length dark brown hair, which was currently pulled back into a ponytail.

"Right," Nate said, realising he had been staring at the mirror for quite some time, he moved aside to allow Nora access and turned to leave the bathroom.

"Not so fast Mr." Nora said pointing to the sink under the mirror, looking down Nate saw he had left the remnants of his former beard.

"Sorry hon," replied Nate while quickly wiping the hair away with his towel, he then leaned down and kissed Nora gently on the cheek.

Walking from the bathroom Nate made his way to the kitchen, where Codsworth the family's domestic Mister Handy was preparing breakfast.

"Ah good morning Sir," said Codsworth while floating towards Nate, "Your coffee, 273.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Brewed to perfection!" he boasted while holding a cup out to Nate.

"Thanks, Codsworth," replied Nate while taking the cup.

"Of course, Sir," responded Codsworth while returning to cooking at the hob.

"What's for breakfast this morning Codsworth?" called Nora from the bathroom.

"Pancakes mum," replied Codsworth.

Taking a sip of his coffee, Nate walked to the bookcase near the door, surrounded by Nora's law books was a certificate for her Law degree, Nate had been so proud of her when she received this.

"Coffee for you Mum, breakfast should be ready soon" Codsworth said from behind Nate, turning Nate realised Nora had walked in from the bathroom.

"Thank you Codsworth," replied Nora while taking the cup.

A sudden crying from the nursery startled Nate slightly, "Ah, looks like someone made a stinky," responded Codsworth to the noise, "I shall attend to young Shaun," finished Codsworth before floating off to Shaun's nursery at the back of the house.

"Hmm, you know I was nervous at first, but Codsworth's really good with Shaun," commented Nora while reading today's newspaper.

Turning from the bookcase, Nate walked towards the TV that had been playing to itself for the last hour, the news reported was currently discussing the days weather forecast, which was looking like it was going to be a nice day.

"Looking at next-weeks forecast, we have a high of 52 for Monday," commented the news reported.

Ding Dong! The doorbell sounded.

"Can you get that? It's probably that salesman. He comes for you every day," Nora said over the top of the paper.

Nate opened the door to find a man wearing a trench coat and had while holding a clipboard.

"Good morning, Vault-Tech calling," the salesman said, while tipping his hat slightly.

"Good morning," Nate replied politely.

"Isn't it? Just look at the sky out there!" the salesman continued, "You can't begin to know how happy I am to finally speak with you. I've been trying for days. It's a matter of utmost urgency, I assure you," finished the salesman, slightly out of breath.

"I'm here now," stated Nate.

"So you are, so you are," replied the salesman with a small laugh. "Now I know you're a busy fellow, so I won't take up much of your time. Time being a, um, precious commodity," continued the salesman, "I'm here to tell you that because of your family's service to our country, you have been pre-selected for entrance into the local Vault. Vault 111," finished the salesman with a flourish of his hands when announcing the Vault's name.

"It sounds great," commented Nate.

"Oh, it is. Believe you me. Now you're already cleared for entrance, in the unforeseen event of…total atomic annihilation," replied the salesman, with a nervous chuckle. "I just need to verify some information. That's all!" finished the salesman while checking his clipboard.

"Tell me more about this Vault," requested Nate.

"Oh, it has all the amenities of the modern home, I assure you. Not to mention the total protection from nuclear radiation and hostile mutants. A better future, underground. It's not only our mission – it's our passion," the salesman said in a practiced tone.

"Sure, let's do it," replied Nate.

"Splendid, splendid! Now let's see…" replied the salesman while checking some information on his clipboard. "Just to confirm, there are 2 adults, Nate and Nora and 1 infant, Shaun?" asked the salesman while ticking boxes on his clipboard.

"Yes, that's correct," confirmed Nate, "There is also Codsworth our Mister Handy," stated Nate.

"Unfortunately, sir, there is no room for the Mister Handy unit, fear not though, your needs have been accounted for and an alternative will be provided should you require the use whilst in the Vault," responded the salesman.

"Is there any other information you require?" asked Nate who was growing slightly irritated with the conversation, Nora could have confirmed how many would be entering the Vault.

"That's everything… Just gonna walk this over to the Vault! Congratulations on being prepared for the future," responded the salesman while slowly back-peddling down the garden path, "Thank you for your time this morning," finished the salesman before leaving.

"Um… Thanks again," Nate replied while closing the front door.

"Hey," Nora said from over Nate's shoulder, "It's piece of mind. That's worth a little paperwork, right?" asked Nora from the sofa.

Feeling the irritation instantly drain from him Nate replied, "For you and Shaun, no price is too high," before walking to sit with Nora on the sofa.

Nora laughed before replying "Good answer".

"I have my moments," Nate said while putting his arm around Nora's shoulder, their intimate moment was then interrupted by the cries of Shaun from the nursery.

"Mister Nate, Shaun has been changed, but he absolutely refuses to calm down. I think he needs some of that "paternal affection" you seem to be so good at," Codsworth said from behind the two of them.

Nora chuckled and said, "You heard Codsworth. Go on."

Rising from the sofa Nate made his way to the nursery at the back of the house, there swaddled comfortably in his cot lay Shaun, Nates 11-month-old son. Walking to the side of the cot Nate gently tickled Shaun's tummy, which managed to elicit a small gurgle.

"How are the two most important men in my life doing?" Nora asked from the doorway to the nursery. "Spin the mobile a bit, he loves that," Nora finished, while leaning against the doorframe.

Reaching into the cot, Nate pressed the button which activated the rocket shit mobile hanging over Shaun's cot. The rockets began spinning in a clockwise fashion while a lullaby played in the background. Shaun giggled and gurgled at the mobile while Nora made her way into the room.

"Hey, how's my little guy? Much better now, huh?" Nora asked in a soothing voice. It always amazed Nate at how easily parenting came to Nora, he was always afraid he was going to hurt Shaun or wouldn't know what to do. "Listen, after breakfast, I was thinking we could head to the park for a bit. Weather should hold up," Nora stated rather than asked.

"Yeah, sounds like fun," Nate replied enthusiastically, he could get used to spending time with his family.

"Sir? Mum? You should come and see this!" called Codsworth from the living room urgently.

"Codsworth? What's wrong?" asked Nora suddenly worried by the tone in Codsworth's voice.

Nate opened the nursery door and made his way into the living room to find Codsworth fixated on the news reporter on the TV.

"Followed by… yes, followed by flashes. Blinding flashes. Sounds of explosions… We're… we're trying to get confirmation…" blustered the news reporter on the TV.

"What? What is he saying," demanded Nora, who had picked Shaun up and followed Nate into the living room.

"But we seem to have lost contact with our affiliate stations…" continued the news reporter. "We do have… coming in… confirmed reports. I repeat, confirmed reports of nuclear detonations in New York and Pennsylvania.

"Oh No!" was all that Nora could reply to the devastating news on the TV.

"My God!" continued the news reporter. The TV then switched to an emergency Please Stand By screen.

"Oh My God!" screamed Nora as the TV screen went blank.

"We need to get to the Vault. NOW!" shouted Nate and he bustled Nora out of the front door.

Coming back to her senses Nora replied, "I've got Shaun, let's go," before running from the front door towards the stream.

In the background a siren could be heard and an announcement from an overhead Vertibird was being broadcast through speakers mounted to the underside of the craft.

"Residents of Sanctuary Hills… If you are registered, evacuate to Vault 111 immediately…" came the commanding voice from the speaker.

Nate turned from his house and jogged to the right, after his neighbours house a soldier was directing people towards the stream which ran parallel to the rear of his property. Keeping Nora in front of him Nate kept a steady pace while passing several of his neighbours, who stood in the street panicking over what to do.

"Is this really happening?" he heard Mrs Mayflower from across the street ask the soldier.

"Vault participants, this way," he could hear the soldier instructing.

"Shhh, everything's going to be ok," Nate could hear Nora whispering to Shaun as they crossed the bridge over the stream.

Making their way up an incline to the rear of their house, Nate could see a huge Vault-Tec sign advertising the Vault program with the caption, "Prepare for the Future!" and a family queueing to get into their Vault. Nate couldn't help thinking to himself how idealistic the picture was compared to the real thing. At the top of the slope they found themselves confronted by a crowd of people waiting to gain access to the Vault. The Vault-Tec salesman, from only 10 minutes before, was arguing with a soldier checking the Vault resident in on a clipboard.

"What do you mean I'm not on the list!" demanded the Vault-Tec salesman, "I am Vault-Tec!" he stated firmly.

"You're not on the list, so you're not going in!" the soldier responded firmly, Nate had met many soldiers like this while serving in the Army, if he said no, it meant no.

"I'm going in," continued the Vault-Tec salesman, oblivious to the 2 soldiers in full T-45 power armour, the left soldier spooled up his mini-gun, which seemed to capture the Vault-Tec salesman's attention.

Nate pushed his way to the front of the queue and addressed the stern looking soldier with the clipboard, "We need to get in! We're on the list!" Nate said in a rushed statement.

"Infant… Adult Male… Adult Female… OK, go ahead!" the soldier said with no more urgency than he was making a cup of coffee. Stepping to one side he allowed Nate and Nora to pass. "Head to the elevator," instructed the soldier as they passed him.

"Thank you," Nora said as they continued to run to the top of the hill.

Waiting for them was a man in a riot helmet and what appeared to be a security uniform, "You two follow me! Come On!" he instructed firmly.

"What's going to happen to all those people outside the gate?" asked Nora while following the guard.

"We're doing everything we can, now keep moving!" instructed the guard while climbing the steps to what appeared to be an elevator. "Step on the platform, in the centre!" commanded the guard as he moved off to a terminal to the side of the elevator.

Nate and Nora climbed the final step and stood in the centre of the elevator waiting for it to descend, surrounded by a handful of people from their neighbourhood.

"All right, that's them all, send it down" Nate overheard the guard shout from the terminal.

"Almost there. We're gonna be okay. I love you, both of you," Nate said in a reassuring voice.

"We love you too," replied Nora while holding Shaun securely.

A huge flash suddenly appeared on the horizon, what appeared to be an explosion, and a mushroom cloud appeared, expanding outwards was the shockwave which was approaching the elevator at an extreme speed.

"Hold on!" shouted Nate to Nora as the elevator started to descend.

"Can't this thing move any faster," shouted Mr Whitfield a neighbour.

The last thing Nate saw of the outside world was the shockwave striking the top of the elevator as the survivors descended, and then all went black.


	3. Chapter 2 – A New Beginning

**Chapter 2 - A New Beginning**

* * *

After what seemed like an age but could only have been mere seconds, the emergency lights in the elevator shaft activated, and Nate could make out Nora comforting Shaun.

"We did it. We made it. We're okay…" she was saying more to herself than to Shaun.

As the elevator reached the bottom of the shaft, a gate on the front of the shaft rose, waiting for the survivors at the bottom was 2 individuals, a guard and a man in a Vault suit with a clipboard.

"Everybody step off the elevator in an orderly fashion," instructed the guard, "Make your way up the stair and you'll be processed into the vault shortly," he finished.

"No need to worry folks! We'll get everyone situated in your new home. Vault 111! A better future, underground," said the man in the Vault suite while checking the clipboard.

"So, we just?" asked one of the survivors, hesitantly.

"Yes, up the stairs," responded the security guard calmly.

"I can't believe it…" stated Mr Able, Nate's neighbour, "if we'd left a minute later… we'd all be…" he finished, leaving the statement hanging.

"No, No, don't get caught up thinking about that. You're safe now. Everyone just head up the stairs and through the door there," said the man in the Vault suit reassuringly.

As Nate stepped down from the elevator platform and started to climb the steps, a computerised voice came over the speakers.

"Vault-Tec is here for you; all new residents please proceed in an orderly fashion. Welcome Home!" finished the voice.

Mounting the top of the stairs, Nate noticed several other individuals wearing Vault suits, one at the side of the stairs was checking off people as they entered the Vault.

"Female and infant," he stated while ticking off a box on a clipboard.

Another member of the Vault-Tec staff appeared to be handing out the Vault-Tec suits, while welcoming the survivors.

"Welcome, pick up a suit right over there, just step over to the table," he instructed while pointing to a woman handing out the suits.

"You'll need a suit before we can take you any further into the Vault," informed the woman handing out the suits.

Nate took the blue suit he was offered, it was till sealed in the plastic packaging, "Err… Thanks… What now?" he stammered, still a little in shock.

"Just follow the Doctor here, He'll show you where to go," replied the woman before handing Nora a suit.

"All right you three, follow me!" stated the Vault-Tec Doctor, he was wearing one of the Pip-Boy 3000's that had just been released to Vault-Tec, previously they were only used by the military.

He turned and started to head into the Vault, Nora was still trying to comfort Shaun, who seemed to be in better shape than both of his parents.

"See? This is our new home…" Nora said to Shaun in a soothing voice.

"Oh, you're gonna love it here. This is one of our most advanced facilities. Not that the others aren't great mind you…" responded the Doctor who was walking a few steps in front of Nate and Nora.

Nate and Nora made their way deeper into the Vault, a couple from the neighbourhood stood talking to another survivor who had already put on their new Vault suite. Nate thought to himself, how are we meant to tell the staff from the survivors.

"How long do you think we'll be down here?" asked Nora, directing the question to the Doctor in front of us.

"Oh, we'll be going over all that in orientation. Just a few medical items we have to go through first," replied the Doctor while opening up a door to a chamber with what appeared to be pods lining the walls on either side of the room.

Nate and Nora followed the Doctor into the chamber, the Doctor walked to the very end and stopped in front of two pods that were open.

"Just step into the chamber," instructed the Doctor.

Shaun started to cry slightly, but Nora soothed him, "It'll be ok. Daddy's right here, see?" she asked speaking to Shaun in a soothing voice.

"Who's my little guy? I'm not going far. I'll just be over here," Nate said while stroking Shaun's head.

"There he is, see, Daddy's not going far," continued Nora in a comforting voice.

Nate stepped up to the pod, a label at the top said decontamination pod. Which made sense to Nate, all the fallout they must have absorbed, even from their limited exposure. Nate removed his clothing and dressed in the fitted Vault suite before stepping into the decontamination pod, directly opposite a Doctor was helping Nora and Shaun into a pod.

Through a speaker on the front of the pod the doctor began to speak, "The pod will decontaminate and depressurize you before we head deeper in the Vault, just relax, this should be over soon."

"Time for a whole new life…" Nate said to himself as the door on the pod closed and sealed.

"Resident Secure," the Vault computerised voice said through the speaker, opposite Nate could see Nora place her hand on the glass window of her pod.

"Occupant Vitals: Normal," stated the computer.

"Procedure complete," the computer stated after only a few seconds.

Nate heard a sound like air, or gas, from above him and noticed the glass in front of him misting up.

"In, 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…" continued the computerised voice. As the computer counted down, Nate's breathing became more rapid, he could barely see through the glass in front of him and he was starting to feel numb from the cold air that had entered the pod. Only a few more second of this Nate thought to himself, as the computer finished counting, the world went white as Nate became unconscious.

A voice from in the distance sounded as Nate realised his breathing was shallow, the room around him was coming into focus.

"Manual override initiated. Cryogenic stasis suspended," the computerised voice said through the speaker.

Cryogenic stasis, Nate thought to himself as his vision started to clear. He could make out Nora's pod opposite him. Still sealed. He was still very cold. A figure, wearing what appeared to be a breathing mask, approached Nora's pod and pointed to it.

"This is the one, here," the masked figure indicated.

A second figure, a man, walked past Nate's pod. He was wearing dark leather clothing and appeared to be bald. In his right hand he had a revolver.

"Open it," he instructed.

Nora's pod opened, Nate could see both her and Shaun. They seemed to be fine.

"Is it over? Are we okay?" Nora asked while Shaun started to cry.

"Almost, everything's going to be fine," replied the mysterious man.

"Come here, come on baby," the masked figure said while trying to take Shaun from Nora.

"No, wait!" Nora exclaimed in alarm, "No, I've got him!" she shouted while holding firmly onto Shaun.

Shaun began to cry louder as Nora struggled with the masked figure.

"Let the boy go!" said the mysterious man, "I'm only gonna tell you once!" he stated, pointing the revolver at Nora.

"I'm not giving you Shaun!" screamed Nora while fiercely struggling with the hooded figure.

"BOOM!" the mysterious man pulled the trigger of the revolver, Nate who was still only partially aware of what was happening was suddenly on full alert. The bullet struck Nora in the chest, and she let go of Shaun.

"Goddammit! Get the kid out of here, and let's go…" the mysterious figure said to the hooded figure.

Nora's pod door swung closed as the hooded figure walked out of Nate's vision with a crying Shaun.

The mysterious figure looked into Nate's pod before leaving, as if speaking to himself he said, "At least we still have the back-up," before walking out of Nate's field of vision. This face that looked in through the glass, it would be a face that Nate would never forget.

He imprinted the face in his memory as the Vault computer stated, "Cryogenic sequence reinitialized."

Nate's vision went white again and he lost consciousness.

Coughing, Nate started to awaken from the forced sleep, opening his eyes he can see Nora's pod opposite his, he needs to get out.

"Critical failure in Cryogenic Array. All Vault residents must vacate immediately," the Vault computer stated in matter of fact tone over the speaker.

The pod door slowly opened for Nate and he pulled himself out on wobbly legs, falling to the floor as they won't bear his weight. He pulled himself along the floor to Nora's pod, he had to check on her, maybe there was still time to save her. Grabbing the handles on the front of Nora's pod, Nate pulled himself into a standing position, pushing the door release on Nora's pod in the process of standing.

"Come on! Come on! Come on! Oh God…" Nate shouted at the pod door as it raised to reveal Nora's body.

Nate could clearly see that the bullet had struck Nora in the left upper chest, reaching to her neck to check for a pulse Nate found nothing. His beautiful wife was dead.

Taking her hand Nate gently spoke to her, "I'll find who did this and I'll get Shaun back. I promise," he vowed, struggling to keep his emotions in check. Taking Nora's wedding ring from her hand he slipped it into the breast pocket of his Vault suit. "I'll come back for you Nora, when I find Shaun, I'll come back for you," he vowed, before closing the pod.

Turning to leave would be the hardest thing Nate had had to do in his entire life, but his son was out there with God knows who, he had to find him. Walking to the exit, Nate noticed the Vault computers voice begin to crackle and break-up. Maybe another fault in this God forsaken hell hole. Nate activated the door release and the door slid up into the ceiling. Making his was down the corridor he couldn't help noticing how dirty and grubby the place looked, was this the same corridor he's walked down only 10 minutes previously. Reaching the door at the end of the corridor, he pressed the activation switch, but nothing happened. He pressed the button again and still nothing happened.

"Malfunction in emergency exit door override. Please contact your Vault-Tec maintenance representative for service" said the computerized voice from the speakers above.

Turning Nate saw another door on his left, pressing the release, the door opened. Nate walked to the end of the corridor, this corridor seemed in worse condition than the previous corridor. The walls had rusted, Nate walked to a window, peering into what seemed to be a power reactor and noticed a huge cockroach scurrying across the floor towards him. It banged harmlessly into the window, not able to get through it soon lost interest. Looking down, Nate noticed a police baton, seeing how the last 20 minutes of his time spent in this Vault had progressed, Nate decided to err on the side of caution and picked the baton up. His drill instructor in basic had always chorused, when in doubt its always better to have a weapon and not need it, rather than need one and not have it.

With this in his possession Nate made his way to the next door and pressed the activation. This door opened to another corridor, Nate followed this to yet another door, maybe this is where they took the other survivors, maybe Shaun is down here somewhere, Nate thought to himself.

Pressing the activator on the door opened to a larger chamber, this had a table and a bench, at the other side of the room though seemed to be one of these huge cockroaches. Nate decided he would approach it cautiously, as soon as the cockroach saw Nate it charged. Nate swung the baton just as the giant cockroach jumped at him, catching it perfectly on the head, the cockroach flew against the wall and lay still.

"Giant roaches? What the Hell…" Nate said to himself.

The room at the end of the chamber seemed to be an eating area, with a bunk room attached, both rooms were caked in rust and the bunk room had been ransacked. As though someone was looting the place. The only option was a door on the left which led into the reactor room where the other giant roach was. Pressing the door release Nate ventured carefully into the room.

As Nate entered the room he saw that the reactor was malfunctioning, and electronic discharges were being fired off randomly. Nate decided to vacate this room as soon as possible so ran past the reactor to the door opposite. As he approached the door, 2 more giant roaches attempted to attach Nate, swinging the baton wildly Nate managed to knock 1 of the roaches into the wall and stun it. The 2nd roach jumped at Nate again, scratching him across his left bicep, Nate clubbed the roach to the ground and crushed it under his boot. Moving swiftly to the stunned roach, Nate struck a final blow, leaving the roach in a pile. Touching the area where the roach had scratched him, Nate checked the movement of his arm, everything seemed to work as it should and the bleeding had already stopped.

"These Vault suits are sturdier than they look," Nate commented to himself before moving to the exit.

On the floor in front of the door was a skeleton in a Vault 111 suit, Nate bent down to check over the skeleton for any hint at what may have happened.

"What happened here? Where is everyone?" said Nate aloud.

Nate pressed the door release switch to exit the reactor room, something was strange about the skeleton, it seemed to almost be mummified, as though it had been there for quite some time.

Heading up a set of stairs Nate found another pair of roaches, rather than take a chance Nate dispatched the pair quickly with 2 swings of his baton and activated the door switch to exit the corridor. Nate entered what appeared to be an office, finding a desk with a computer terminal, on the floor was another skeleton, this one wearing a white lab coat. On the desk lay a backpack, several Stimpak's, a 10mm pistol and a box of 50 10mm rounds. Nate put the Stimpak's in the backpack with the box of ammunition and the baton. Picking up the 10mm pistol from the desk, Nate gave it a cursory inspection, while a little dusty the pistol seemed to be in working order. Nate had extensive training on the use of the pistol, this would be better than using the baton, however with such a small amount of ammunition, he would need to use it sparingly. Looking at the skeleton, Nate noticed how the back of the skull was missing, there seemed to be trauma from a gunshot wound.

"Is this all that's left?" Nate asked himself.

The room itself was completely empty apart from the computer terminal, pressing the Enter key on the keyboard booted the computer to a menu of sorts. This surprised Nate as everything else in the Vault so far seemed to be in a poor state of repair, however the computer terminal seemed to be working fine.

The menu listed several options, Nate pressed the first option, which seemed to be a set of instructions for the Vault Overseer. The instructions went on to detail how Vault 111 was a test Vault to test the effects of long-term suspended animation on unaware humans. At reading this anger started to rise in Nate, they'd lied to him, worse they'd lied to Nora and Shaun. The Vault was meant to be somewhere to keep them safe, not somewhere to run experiments on people. Slamming his hand on the desk Nate navigated back to the main menu, the bottom option seemed to be Nate's best way of escaping this hellhole. He pressed the "Open Evacuation Tunnel" option on the screen. This activated a door at the back of the room, walking towards the door Nate readied the pistol in case anything was lurking around the corner.

Nate walked through the door into a corridor which seemed to be overrun by these giant roaches, Nate systematically aimed and fired the 10mm pistol at each roach, starting with the closest and working his way to the furthest away, keeping a count on the number of rounds he had fired. Nate fired 11 times to eliminate 6 roaches, he was out of practice and would need to improve quickly before his ammunition supply ran out. Walking to the end of the corridor Nate came to another door. Pressing the release button opened the door into yet another corridor. No threats were present in this corridor, however Nate refused to let his guard down and moved cautiously to the next door. This door seemed different though and was labelled in red capital letters "Exit Zone, Authorised Personnel Only!" this seemed to be the door Nate had been looking for. Pressing the release button, Nate was now in the main entrance of the Vault, where he had first collected his Vault suit. To Nate this memory seemed like years ago. Walking out into the main entrance Nate saw 2 more roaches, taking his time and breathing slowly Nate killed them with 2 shots. Pulling more bullets out of his backpack Nate reloaded the pistol.

Walking into the entrance fully Nate also noticed several skeletons around the floor, 2 wearing lab coats and 1 wearing a Vault suit.

"Is anyone alive? Did anyone get out?" Nate said to himself while checking the bodies. The first skeleton had nothing but the second skeleton had a Pip-Boy 3000 around his forearm. Having used one while in the army Nate knew how invaluable these were, he quickly unclipped the Pip-Boy and then attached it to his own left forearm, pressing the power button on the top, the Pip-Boy began to cycle. The Pip-Boy cycled through its boot-up sequence and then displayed a picture of Nate's current physical status. The Pip-Boy could also keep a track of notes and had an inbuild GPS system, however the map was completely blank, this Pip-Boy must not have been used since it was first powered on.

Looking to the console in front of him, Nate noticed a sign next to the exit button, Pip-Boy remote link, this must mean he had to connect the Pip-Boy to send a signal to the Vault door to open in it. Nate removed the clip from the back of his Pip-Boy and fitted it into the console, on the screen of the Pip-Boy a notification showed, Vault Door, Remote Access Authorised. Nate took this as a sign that the door would now open, he pressed the red button which activated the Vault door opening sequence.

"Vault door cycling sequence initiated," boomed the Vault computer through the speakers, "Please stand back," it finished.

A huge machine in front of Nate moved towards the vault door and began disengaging the locks like a mechanic key, the light on the side of the door changed from "Locks Engaged" to "Clear" and the machine removed the gear shaped door. Nate moved to a catwalk that was now extending its way towards the door, as he reached the end of the catwalk, the lift doors opened for him. Nate stood on the same circular lift he had entered the Vault on, when Nora and Shaun had been with him, Nate hit the rise button and the lift began its long journey to the surface.

"Enjoy your return to the surface and thank you for choosing Vault-Tec," said the Vault computer through the speakers, however Nate was no longer listening, he was now worrying about what was waiting for him above ground.


End file.
